No Good Deed (2014) [Blu-ray]
Crime | Thriller

Terri (Taraji P. Henson) is a devoted wife and mother of two, living an ideal suburban life in Atlanta when Colin (Idris Elba), a charming but dangerous escaped convict, shows up at her door claiming car trouble. Terri offers her phone to help him but soon learns that no good deed goes unpunished as she finds herself fighting for survival when he invades her home and terrorizes her family.

Storyline: A lonely mother, invites a handsome car accident victim into her home. Desperate for a little attention, she doesn't realize she's entertaining a sociopathic, yet charming escape convict. In one terrorizing night her life completely changes as she fight for her own life and the life of her children in No Good Deed. Written by Anonymous

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, December 18, 2014 -- No Good Deed gives almost no good reason(s) to watch. Sure it does a couple of things well, and it's an expectedly slick and expertly assembled film, yet it's a rather hollow vessel, a movie that doesn't explore new territory or even tinker with established formula. It's a classic paint-by-numbers Thriller, watered down to PG-13, and it frequently fails to capture even a hint of tension or, really, anything that could be remotely construed as "remarkable," outside, perhaps, of Idris Elba's performance. There's nothing at all novel about the film, either, not even in the twisty-turn reveal late in the movie. It's one of those movies that's just good enough to hold one's attention but not capture one's imagination, a movie that's of a high enough quality to warrant a first look but not a second. It's another in a very long line of "watch and forget" movies that serve to distract and entertain for 90 minutes and be forgotten almost immediately thereafter.

Colin Evans (Idris Elba), five years imprisoned on manslaughter charges and suspected to be involved in the disappearance of five women, is denied parole despite his best efforts to convince the board that he's ready for life outside prison walls. While being transported back to the joint, he manages to seize control of a weapon and escape. He murders his unfaithful girlfriend, crashes his car in a storm, and wanders up to an ideal suburban house where Terry (Taraji P. Henson) and her two children are home alone. Collin asks for her help, and she takes pity on the wet and wounded stranger and invites him into her home. Little does she know that her good deal with certainly go punished during a night she will never forget.

Every last little bit of tension in No Good Deed comes sourced from manufactured dramatic devices that work in the greater context the film weaves together but that at the same time leave audiences wondering where they've seen this movie before and why they're watching it again. Everything from the cliché (a raging thunderstorm) to the convenient (a car alarm that goes off on its own from time to time) propel the story forward through a predictable routine of hidden identities and slow reveals of true intentions. As the movie builds towards its revealing climax that, to this twist's credit, does help to better define several of the "hows" and "whys" that lead up to it -- while also opening up a few more questions -- the picture simply pushes through genre type, relying on the audience to believe that a mother and highly educated woman (a former prosecutor, in fact, who specialized in cases centered on violence committed against women) would be dumb enough to open her house, with her children home, even, to a mysterious stranger or that her best friend (played by Leslie Bibb) would all but strip naked for a chance to bed a man she met literally seconds before. The rampant cliché and predictability, however, only occasionally hinder what are otherwise a few good moments of psychological back-and-forth maneuvering that do help make the movie feel a little more robust than reality dictates it to be, thanks in large part to an excellent lead performance.

Idris Elba is reason number one -- one of precious few -- to give No Good Deed a serious watch. For as technically sound as the movie may be in terms of its visual prowess, editing, flow, and so on and so forth -- none of which are in any way bad -- it's Elba who elevates the movie from the scrap heap of forgotten films and transforms it into something that's at least watchable. Elba's performance is exemplary, evident from the movie's first -- and best -- scene in which he pleads his case before a parole board. He brilliantly captures the dichotomy that is, on one side, a clearly intelligent man who seems bent on earning forgiveness for his actions and who holds regret in his soul, staring down the men and women who hold his fate in their hands with almost puppy dog eyes that say "free me, I'm not a danger to anyone." On the other side is the more menacing, spiteful, easily angered killer that appears in spurts and of course dominates the film's final act. Elba's ability to effortlessly maneuver between the two extremes, whether on a dime or in something of a more gradual build-up, is remarkable. The character ins't necessarily complex -- his Collin Evans is merely two unique sides of the same coin -- but Elba masters both, and the more "human" of the two in particular, very well. Taraji P. Henson, a fine actor in her own right, isn't so fortunate, not because she's not good in the role but because the role gives her nothing with which to work. She essentially does nothing with a part for which nothing can be done to expand the character who is more defined by poor choices and awkward situations than she is the more dynamic "unwilling victim and necessary hero" she should be. Certainly, there wouldn't be a movie -- not this movie, anyway -- if she were a more practically minded character, but it's a shame a performer of Henson's caliber is so dwarfed by Elba because she's not given a part that's anywhere near as interesting as his.

No harm, no foul. No Good Deed won't come within a country mile of Oscar consideration, and most audiences will find it a flat and unimaginative Thriller built on strict structure rather than creative risk. It's not dull, just unremarkable, a movie that does what it does with commendable craftsmanship but nothing in the film ever gets under the skin, unsettles the mind, or lingers in the soul. It's worth a watch for Elba's crafty turn as the villain, but it's otherwise hardly worth remembering, which probably makes it the ideal candidate for someone in the mood for a movie that's purely watched for classic "escapism." Sony's Blu-ray release of No Good Deed does deliver excellent video and audio. A few supplements are included for those who wish to learn a little more about the movie. Give it a rent when a night lounging on the couch to mindless entertainment sounds like fun.

[CSW] -1.5- Although I hate to agree with this reviewer, I do:
A thriller movie's number one job is to be thrilling. Someone must've told the makers of No Good Deed that passionate yelling between well-dressed yuppies on top of melodramatic score swells can pass as thrilling. Instead of excitement and scares, No Good Deed gives us artlessly directed stiffness that only manages to be shockingly unpleasant. It's the kind of forgettable, mindless dreck that completely lacks identity or personality. Sure it's mercifully short, but it's even more mercilessly ugly. (WARNING: bad pun coming) All in all, No Good Deed has no good part. Elba plays an escaped murderer who wreaks havoc on Henson's family by tricking his way into their home. Lucky for Elba's character, there's not a single sharp knife in the drawer of characters he encounters. He uses his powers of clichéd dialogue and lazily-written coincidences to get whatever he wants, which is…unclear, to say the least. We know he's a "bad guy", but why? And what is his end goal? Motivations take a back seat in No Good Deed, with the focus instead on predictable thriller beats, harlequin-novel style plotting, and a twist that is far from earned. Elba and Henson are both formidable screen presences, and it would normally be a gift to see them work together. Unfortunately to call their No Good Deed characters one-dimensional is giving them one too many dimensions, unless pure sociopath and complete moron are dimensions. They're characters are purely there to force a hackneyed and dangerous message: all men are evil. Go see Guardians or Turtles again, but do all you can to stay away from this mid-budget Lifetime Channel movie.

[V5.0-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.


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